


Halloween

by Wind_Ryder



Series: Domestic Life [2]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Anxiety, Autism, Autistic Character, Bittersweet, Halloween, Kid Fic, M/M, Traumaversary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-07-10 23:56:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7013794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wind_Ryder/pseuds/Wind_Ryder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John hadn’t been ignorant to how fast time was flying by. But when Miss Sarah handed him the small invitation to the Little Bees Halloween Party, and told him that Francine needed a costume to attend, he’d been surprised. He nodded awkwardly, one hand holding Francine’s and the other gripping the invitation tight. </p><p>“Halloween’s a week away,” she reminds him, and he nods. Right. A week away. Which means...the 28th is less than a week away. “You’re welcome to bring guests.”</p><p>____</p><p>John celebrates a Traumaversary and Halloween for the first time since Francine came to live with him. And he makes a decision that will change their lives for good.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Halloween

**Author's Note:**

  * For [writelikeitsgoingoutofstyle (twoandahalfslytherins)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/twoandahalfslytherins/gifts), [yumeniai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yumeniai/gifts).



> This story really won't make much sense unless you first read: "Domestic Life Was Never Quite My Style." In which John adopts his autistic sister, Frances, after his father dies.
> 
> For yumeniai's prompt: I would love a tidbit in your Non-Stop AU where John adopts his little sister? 
> 
> And also for all of you who were desperate for another Francine fic. Sorry it took so long. :D

John doesn’t like his birthday. It comes around every year at the exact same time, and every year he feels himself falling into bad habits. Eyeing the candy bowls that are placed out in stores. Staking out houses that are likely to have the best scores. Quietly preparing himself to just sit in his room behind a locked door and breathe to himself. 

He doesn’t need to go outside. Doesn’t need to say anything. He just needs to be in his room, quiet and alone, and when the night’s over— he can emerge and start focussing on Halloween. 

Halloween, he likes. It’s a wonderful holiday filled with free food, and he will happily celebrate it as much as he wants to. Lafayette still curls his lips up at John, scowling at the idea that John eats nothing but candy in the month of November, and John just nods his head and buys more. Looks for more places he can steal candy from. It’s an obsession. 

And it’s not even a particularly healthy obsession. 

But it’s the one thing that manages to pull him out of his room after he’s locked himself up. The one thought that he hangs onto every year. He has to get up. Has to get ready. He needs to go outside and find the candy, or else he’s not going to have enough money to buy food. He has to go track down the best route. Get ready to go. He has to get up. 

Has to. 

Has to. 

Has to. 

When the leaves start turning colors, John’s eyes naturally start falling around town. Taking in the pumpkins. The pie smell. The loud shouts of students as they scream about their intentions this year. John’s not been  _ oblivious  _ to how close Halloween came upon them this year, but he’s been distracted lately. 

His sister had a cold last month, and Lafayette’s parents came by for a quick visit the month before that. Francine had started preschool in September, and he’d been struggling to balance her schedule and his school schedule every day. 

He hadn’t been  _ ignorant  _ to how fast time was flying by. But when Miss Sarah handed him the small invitation to the Little Bees Halloween Party, and told him that Francine needed a costume to attend, he’d been surprised. He nodded awkwardly, one hand holding Francine’s and the other gripping the invitation tight. 

“Halloween’s a week away,” she reminds him, and he nods. Right. A week away. Which means...the 28th is less than a week away. “You’re welcome to bring guests.” 

He nods again. Francine pulls his hand. It’s past the time they were supposed to start walking home, and she gets upset if they’re not punctual. Mumbling a goodbye, he follows her out onto the sidewalk. Lets her lead them down the memorized streets that go directly to Lafayette’s house. 

He tries reading the invitation first. Tries to work out exactly what Little Bees wanted of him. Costumes were required so all the children could enjoy the holiday. “You’re going to hate that,” John mutters as he glances at Francine. She’s got her thinking face on. Keeps lifting her feet high in the air to stamp them back down. Tongue peeking out between her lips as she concentrates on their route. 

When they get back home, John opens the door. Watches as she runs immediately to the kitchen where Lafayette’s cutting up apples for her. They’ve got this routine down to a science, and it’s comforting in its own way. 

He leans over and kisses Lafayette’s cheek, gets pulled back down for a real kiss when he tries to pull away. Francine sits in her chair and pulls out her books. She swings her legs back and forth and makes a few sounds. Pointing at the notations on her pages. “How was your day?” Lafayette asks Francine, and she signs her answer back with a rapid twist of her fingers. 

They’ve been working on signing for a while now. She’s better at it then they are. But even so, they’ve got the basics down. Can understand the emotions and the general structure. She had a good day. They painted pumpkins. 

John thinks back. Trying to remember if he saw them when he picked her up. There  _ had  _ been a row of them sitting on the counter when he first walked in. Miss Sarah hadn’t mentioned them though. Then again, Miss Sarah doesn’t exactly think highly of how he takes care of Francine in the first place. 

Lifting his hands, he talks while he signs. Knows Lafayette can only look at one thing at a time, and he’d truly rather not bring his boyfriend to the hospital tonight. “Which one was yours?” He asks slowly. The sentence structure isn’t accurate. The signs don’t match up exactly, but the meaning is the same all around. 

_ “The one with the bandaid on the bruise,”  _ Francine signs back. Of course. He should have known. He repeats the words for Lafayette who grins over his shoulder at them both. Turning finally with his plate at the ready. 

Settling it between them all, Lafayette sections it into thirds. Francine doesn’t like it when someone steals from her pile, and so they compromise and split it up prior. Now, she reaches for her apple slices. Chomping loudly. Grinding and crunching. “Mouth closed when you chew,” John tells her. Signing out: You. Chew. Mouth. Closed.  

She rolls her eyes. Makes a show of eating with her lips shut. Lowering her jaw as far as it will go while still following his request. He doesn’t correct her. If she wants to be silly she can be silly. 

“They’re having a Halloween Party,” John tells Lafayette quietly. There’s no cinnamon on the table, and he sighs. Pushing away, he goes searching for it. Lafayette directs him to the stove. Apologizes. He’d been using it earlier for brunch. John just waves it off. It’s fine. Taking it, he returns to his seat and starts sprinkling a liberal amount on his apple slices. 

There’s only so many times he can eat plain apples and peanut butter with crackers before he needs something else in his life. 

Francine scrunches her nose at him, and he scrunches it right back. She doesn’t have to like his food. “Guests are invited. With costumes.” 

“That sounds like fun.” Lafayette would find it fun. John forces a smile and nods down at his apples. “What do you want to dress up as?” Lafayette asks Francine. She ponders it physically. One hand going to her lips and holding it there while she considers the question. 

She keeps her fingers pressed together then holds her left palm up. Taps the fingers of her right to her wrist. Slight arch in both hands. A doctor. 

John should have known. 

***

They go shopping for Francine’s outfit the next day. Lafayette swings her up onto his shoulders still. She’s too big for the shoulder carry he used to have her ride in, but she’s far less unbalanced these days. Holds onto his hair and drapes herself over his head. Legs curling in front of him. No more leaning back or fear of falling. 

John doesn’t like shopping with Francine. Still gets agitated and uncomfortable whenever he’s in public with her. He’s got a copy of her adoption papers folded up in a plastic bag tucked into one of his jacket pockets. Always on hand in case someone approaches them. They’d talked about Lafayette officially adopting Francine not too long ago. 

Decided it was best to wait until after John graduated from college. John’s not scared of their relationship falling apart...but he doesn’t want to put Francine through any trauma if something does happen. His head still hurts at the thought of having to worry about joint custody of his little sister. 

Lafayette didn’t push the issue, though John knows it made him a little sad. He hasn’t said they’ve ever been harassed on the street before, but John knows it must happen. Sometimes they come back from their runs together far too early. And sometimes Francine is upset but won’t sign or talk about it. John wishes he could have a copy of Francine’s paperwork to give Lafayette too. He’s just...he’s nervous. 

The costume store off Broadway is a children’s paradise, and Lafayette lowers Francine to the ground so that she can wander about on her own. She presses her fingers to her lips and looks at everything around her. Eyes wide and distracted. She doesn’t know what to do or where to go first. 

John asks if she wants to follow him, and she nods her head. Walking after him as he leads her to the children’s section. There are countless princess dresses along one shelf. Francine is not interested in any of those. The ghosts and the grim reapers are similarly ignored. There’s a pumpkin that’s kind of cute, John thinks he was a pumpkin once as a kid, but she doesn’t even look at it. 

She’s frowning. Going from costume to costume and looking at them all with an expression of true dissatisfaction. She’s entirely unimpressed. In fact, by the time they’ve gotten to the second row, she’s starting to get tears in her eyes and she’s biting at her fingertips unhappily. “Francine no,” he murmurs softly. Pulling her hand from her mouth. “C’mon baby, what’s wrong?” 

He knows what’s wrong. The right costume isn’t here. There’s all sorts of Ariels and Mulans. There are Tinker Bells and Elsas. There are are cheerleaders and dogs and cats. Witches and clowns. But no doctors. 

Well, that’s not true. John watches as Francine’s eyes light up. She finds a white jacket and pulls it off the shelf, only to drop it immediately. Stamping her foot on the ground and screeching her protest. 

A sharp sting of anxiety sparks through John and one of his hands goes to his pocket. Feels the outline of the paperwork there even as he kneels to pick up the costume. Lafayette meanders over from wherever he’d gallivanted off to. Looks between the two of them in confusion before he spots the problem. 

The doctor’s outfit is lined with cat prints and fuzzy sleeves. It’s not authentic. Not as bad as the white nurse’s dress that’s right next to it, candy cane red and white with bows and frills. But still bad. She hates it more than anything else in the store. Francine doesn’t want to play pretend. She wants to be a doctor. 

“C’mere, baby girl,” John sighs, opening his arms for her. She doesn’t want a hug. Just wants to keep stamping and screaming. Tears streaming down her face as she waves her hands unhappily. John’s got a knot of tension forming a vice around his heart and he needs her to stop. He doesn’t mind if she has a tantrum in private, but in public he’s going to get arrested for something again, and he doesn’t want that. Doesn’t want to lose her. 

He looks up to Lafayette, desperate. Pleading. And his boyfriend crouches down. “You wanna go see if the boys side has anything for you?” 

She sobs up at him and nods her head. Lets him lead her to the other stack on the other side. One of the attendants comes over to see if they need help with anything, and John tries not to look like a predator. Tries to smile and tell her they’re good. Only, do they have scrubs? 

She seems pleased that she can offer some help, and leads their party to the back of the boys clothes. Pulls out a set of teal scrubs and face mask. Francine stops crying immediately and grabs for it. Inspecting the sleeves and pants for any flaws. 

“Babysitting?” the attendant asks, looking John and Lafayette up and down. 

“She’s my sister,” John replies shortly. For a moment she doesn’t seem to know what to say to that, but then just nods and leaves to attend to something else. John prays she isn’t calling the cops. 

“What shall  _ we _ be,  _ mon amour?”  _ Lafayette asks suddenly, smiling at John. He shrugs awkwardly. Hadn’t really thought about dressing up as anything. Figured Francine dressing up would be enough. “Francine? Thoughts?” 

She looks up at them both, frowning as she hugs her costume to her body. “Pot,” she declares, and John rolls his eyes. 

“We’re not dressing up like cookery,” he tells her. “Or weed,” he mumbles far softer. Lafayette snorts at his side. Tries covering it up with his hand but mostly failing at it. 

They walk over to the adults section. Wander through the slutty ladies costumes that John could never understand, peek through a few standard options. There’s a lot to choose from. You could either be a drunk pirate, a drunk ninja, a drunk zombie, or a deadbeat. 

Everything looks slightly worn out and tacky. John crosses his arms and glares at them all. “You are certainly your daughter’s father,” Lafayette tells him with a roll of his eyes. 

“She’s my sister,” John corrects. 

“She’s both,” Lafayette insists. 

“That’s an Oedipus complex I really don’t have.” 

The exchange is nice. Distracting. Keeps him from thinking about Halloween and October 28th, and the lady who probably thinks he’s abusing Francine in some way. Francine slides her hand into John’s eventually. Smiles up at him and waves her doctor outfit. “You want me to be one too?” he clarifies. Usually he’s not the doctor. Usually when they play she’s sticking bandaids on him and checking his temperature. 

She shakes her head and waves the costume gain. “The Lady hath spoken,” Lafayette proclaims. “So, my dear Laurens,” John’s other hand gets scooped up. “It seems I need to mar your lovely skin once more.” He whispers the last words into John’s ear. Kisses his cheek and grins. 

Miss Sarah is going to be horrified if she finds out just  _ how  _ John’s going to get the bruises and cuts Francine’s going to tend to. But John can’t be bothered to think about her right now. He doesn’t remember the last time he and Lafayette went all out.

It’ll certainly kick at some of his anxiety that’s for sure. 

***

Madison, Alex, and Aaron stop by on the 28th. They’ve got beer and pizza and no one says the words ‘Happy Birthday’. Even the cake Alex insists on baking is just “because we deserve a dessert.” 

Everyone sits around the living room laughing and trading jokes while Francine plays with her books in the corner. Alex has her pulled onto his lap and she’s holding up the books and pointing at lines she likes for him to read. 

“You know, you really are doing a great job with her,” Aaron tells John when he’s well on his way to getting drunk. Lafayette hasn’t touched a drop all night. He never does if John’s drinking, and vice versa. Someone always has to be there in case something bad happens and Francine needs them. 

But today’s John’s birthday. It’s a Traumaversary, and he has no intentions of staying sober tonight. “Thansss…” he slurs. Smiling dopily as he drinks his fifth beer in one hour. He’s going to hate himself in the morning, but oh well. 

“What are you guys doing for Halloween?” Madison asks. 

“There’s a party at Little Bees,” Lafayette replies. Good. Because John’s not going to be able to get that many words out logically. Lafayette’s so nice like that. John rolls a little and flops himself onto Lafayette’s lap. Nuzzles Lafayette’s neck as his boyfriend’s arm wraps around his body. 

“What’s she going as?” Alex asks. 

“Wait, let me guess,” Madison cuts in. He makes a show of really considering it. “A doctor.” 

Bingo! Ding, ding, ding! John laughs a little hysterically at that. 

A doctor in the family. Their dad would be so  _ pleased _ . 

“I hate my birthday,” John groans into Lafayette’s throat. His arms slide under John’s body and pick him up. 

“Is that what today is?” he asks, carrying John to his bedroom. “I hadn’t noticed.” 

Lafayette’s a jerk.

***

On Halloween, John and Lafayette  _ do  _ put in stage makeup for the injuries that Francine attends to. (Well, not  _ everything  _ is stage makeup, but John doubts he’s going to need to take off his pants for the good people at Little Bees). 

She dresses in her doctor’s uniform and prances about the house with her medical bag. Very happy and enthusiastic. Taking her hand in hand, John and Lafayette both walk her to Little Bees. 

Miss Sarah is surprised they’re both there, but she welcomes them brightly and compliments Francine on her outfit. Francine doesn’t listen to her. Instead, she pulls them to see her pumpkins. Unlike the other pumpkins, nice and fresh, Francine’s all started out slightly disfigured and deformed. 

She’s got warty little pustules growing too much on one side. She’s got a gouge in one. A bruise in another. They’ve all been tended to. Bandaids over cracks. Kisses over warts. John likes that one the best. He runs his fingers over the painted lips, smiling faintly at the idea of his sister trying to kiss it and make it better. 

She’s such a good kid. 

And while the other children are running around in their capes and costumes, she’s standing still. Looking up at him and telling him in her own way about what kind of care a pumpkin requires to survive. There are boys and girls dressed like superheroes, flashy and bright. But standing in her little scrubs, John doesn’t think he’s ever met anyone more heroic. 

Nor anyone with a bigger heart. 

She plays well with others. Flapping her hands with excitement when they get to her favorite part of her day. Show and tell. She gets the entire class to sit in a circle and watch as she shows off John and Lafayette. She points out the little pencil drawn cuts, and she places her bandages and wraps on them. She even puts an ace bandage around John’s ankle perfectly. 

John’s seen actual medical professionals do a worse job. She’s dedicated to her profession though, and she shows no signs of stopping. Smiling and encouraged by all of the clapping she receives. 

When she’s done and the class is free to play, the superheroes go to her and ask her to respond to their kidnapped princesses. Making sure they’re okay. Francine is up to the task. 

She always is. 

“Aaron was right, you know,” Lafayette tells John. John fidgets awkwardly as his boyfriend leans closer. “You’ve done a great job with her.” 

“We did,” John mumbles. It’s the truth. He knows that. He never would have been able to do this without Lafayette. “I’m...sorry that I haven’t helped you with the—”

“—I understand,” Lafayette cuts in. “It’s all right.” 

“She’s your daughter too,” John grits out. 

“Not as much as she is you—”

“No. Exactly as much.” Turning so they’re meeting each other’s eyes, John takes a deep breath. “She’s exactly as much my daughter as she is yours.” He needs to get over this. He needs to move on. He needs to accept that sometimes bad things happen, and sometimes it needs a bandaid. Needs to get patched up. But it still has the potential to be beautiful if you let it be beautiful. If you kiss and make it better. “She’s your daughter too,” he repeats. “Let’s do it.” 

Lafayette kisses him once. It’s not as deep as John suspects it might have been, were they alone, but it’s still perfect. Wonderful. Flawless in every way. 

He lets out a long breath of air. 

***

When Little Bees is over, they take Francine trick or treating. John still steals some of the candy. Still stuffs handfuls of it in his pockets. But when they get home, he adds his score to the pile from Francine’s bag. Together, they sort through the stack, and then they split it all into thirds. 

Francine collects from her pile, Lafayette from his, and John from his own. 

There’s more than enough candy for all of them. 

And for the first time, it feels nice to share. 

**Author's Note:**

> Have a prompt? Want it filled? Find me on tumblr: falcon-fox-and-coyote.tumblr.com


End file.
